Citroen Is Developing an All-New Hydraulic Suspension

You have not experienced a comfortable car until you ride in a Citroën equipped with hydropneumatic suspension. Citroën's self-leveling suspension system, which debuted on the 1954 Traction Avant, irons out imperfections in the road with eery precision, without feeling boat-like. Combine that suspension with incredibly plush seats, and you have a genuine magic carpet for the streets.

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Sadly, Citroën effectively killed the hydropneumatic suspension last year, announcing that it wouldn't continue development of the sixty-year old tech. Now, though, Citroën is developing a new hydraulic suspension system that it's previewing in the Advanced Comfort Concept. It has big shoes to fill, but Citroën is promising great things with its new system.

Citroën

Citroën's Advanced Comfort program encompasses the development of a variety of new technologies, but its suspension system is the main component. It uses coilovers with two hydraulic stops for rebound and compression replacing the traditional mechanical stops.

"Unlike a conventional mechanical stop, which absorbs the energy then partially returns it, the hydraulic cushion absorbs and dissipates the energy," reads a Citroën press release. "As a result, there is no rebound."

A bold claim, but a claim that is backed up by Autocar's drivein a C4 Cactus equipped with these new hydraulically-enhanced coilovers.

"[The Advanced Comfort Concept] simply glided along with amazingly little noise or vibration," wrote Steve Cropley at Autocar. "In addition, the jittery surfaces of the route–Citroën's word was 'jumpy' –were all but refined away."

Citroën

The other technologies being developed in the Advanced Comfort program include a new body making process–where adhesive bonding works in combination with traditional weld to create a stiffer, more vibration absorbent structure–and seats that are somewhat similar to your memory foam bed.

Citroën promises ride comfort that can rival its classic DS, but the neatest thing about its new suspension tech is that it's cheap. Where Citroën previously reserved its hydropneumatic suspension for its expensive luxury cars, it wants to install its hydraulic coilovers in everything it sells, including cheap city cars.

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Citroën

It's refreshing to see Citroën continue to commit to the brilliant engineering weirdness that's defined the company. Of course, this new weirdness will have to be pretty uncanny to emerge from the shadows of its old weirdness.